Bathing Suit Top Accessory

ABSTRACT

An accessory for a bathing suit top, the accessory minimizes the tension felt on the neck of a wearer. The accessory has a four-cornered body. The body has an upper, lower, left, right, bottom and top side. The upper and lower sides of the body are substantially parallel and are from about two inches to about five and a half inches apart. The left and right sides of the body are from about one inch to about two and a half inches apart. The accessory further has four appendages. Each appendage has a first and a second end. The first end of each appendage attaches to each corner of the body. The appendages flow outward from the body at an angle that might range from about thirty-five degree to about fifty-five degree from either the upper or lower side of the body. Each appendage defines an eyelet adjacent to the second end of each appendage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of related U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/037,641, filed Mar. 18, 2008, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to swimwear. More specifically, to an accessory that can be used with an existing top of a bathing suit. The accessory reduces the tension caused by the strings of the bathing suit on the neck of the wearer.

The inventor of the present invention was in the bathing suit modeling industry. The Inventor herself was a swimsuit model prior to injuring her neck in a water skiing accident. Since the accident, the inventor has suffered great pain when wearing bathing suit tops for a prolonged period of time.

She feels pain in the area surrounding her neck, more specifically, where the bathing suit top's strings drape around her neck and surrounding areas.

The inventor realized that she had to invent an accessory that would somehow move the resting place of the strings of the bathing suit. The strings would have to be moved a certain distance from where they rested around her neck and outwards toward her shoulders. By doing this she theorized that she would reduce the tension that was being placed around her neck and the surrounding areas.

She first designed an accessory that would move the connection points of the strings at least one inch from the central point of her spinal cord, thereby moving the strings a certain distance outward from her neck. She then noted that the strings were still not draping correctly, for they were coming straight down from her neck and the tension on her neck was not being reduced. She then realized that she needed the strings to run from the top of her shoulders to the accessory in a diagonal angle and that this might reduce the tension she felt around her neck. This realization caused her to design the accessory with appendages that flowed outward from the ends of the accessory in approximately a forty-five degree angle. By designing the accessory with the appendages, she ensured that the strings flowed from a position adjacent to her shoulders to a central position on her back, and that this in turn reduced the tension she felt around her neck and surrounding areas.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fashionable bathing suit top accessory that will reduce the tension placed on the neck of a wearer by the strings of the bathing suit top.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a universal accessory that can be used with a variety of bathing suit tops.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an accessory that can be used with bathing Suit tops to temporarily allow users to obtain stylized tan lines.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to an accessory that is used with an existing top of a bathing suit to reduce the tension felt by a user around the neck of the user. Moving the strings of the bathing suit to positions on the shoulders of the user that are not adjacent to the neck reduces the tension felt by the user.

The accessory is comprised of a four-cornered body. The body has an upper, lower, left, right, bottom and top side. The upper and lower sides of the body are substantially parallel and are from about two inches to about five and a half inches apart. The left and right sides of the body are from about one inch to about two and a half inches apart. The accessory is further comprised of four appendages. Each appendage has a first and a second end. The first end of each appendage attaches to each corner of the body and the appendages flow outward from the body at an angle that might range from about thirty-five degree to about fifty-five degree from either the upper or lower side of the body. Each appendage defines an eyelet adjacent to the second end of each appendage.

The accessory is made of a waterproof or water resistant flexible material. Preferably the material will be either a rubber, a plastic, a polymer having properties that are similar to either rubber or plastic, or a combination of various rubbers or plastics.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the body of the accessory shall define at least one fanciful aperture within the body. The fanciful aperture shall allow the user to obtain stylized tan lines.

DRAWINGS

The above-described and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, drawings, and appended claims:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a bathing suit top accessory and how the accessory attaches to the strings of a bathing suit top; and

FIG. 2 shows how the bathing suit top accessory is seen on the back of a user.

DESCRIPTION

As seen in FIGS. 1-2, an accessory for a bathing suit top that minimizes the tension felt on the neck of the wearer by changing the angle in which the strings of the bathing suit drape around the shoulders of a user, the accessory comprises a four cornered body 10 and four appendages 11. The four-cornered body 10 has an upper 10 a, lower 10 b, left 10 c, right 10 d, bottom and top side, the upper 10 a and lower 10 b sides of the body 10 are substantially parallel and are from about two inches to about five and a half inches apart, the left 10 c and right 10 d sides of the body 10 are from about one inch to about two and a half inches apart. Each appendage 11 has a first 11 a and a second 11 b end, the first end 11 a of each appendage 11 attaches to each corner of the body 10, the appendages 11 flow outward from the body 10 at an angle that ranges from about thirty-five degree to about fifty-five degree from either the upper 10 a or the lower 10 b side of the body 10. Each appendage 11 defines an eyelet 12 adjacent to the second end 11 b of each appendage 11.

The body 10 and the appendages 11 might be made of waterproof and flexible materials. In preferred embodiments, the material might be a rubber, a plastic, a polymer having properties that are similar to either rubber or plastic, or a combination of various rubbers or plastics.

The accessory is used by first providing a wearer, the accessory, and the bathing suit top, the bathing suit top has strings. Then, threading each string of the bathing suit top through a corresponding eyelet 12 of the accessory. Next, tying the strings that were threaded through the eyelets 12 so that the strings threaded through the appendages 11 attached to the upper side 10 a are tied together and the strings threaded through to the appendages 11 attached to the lower side 10 b are tied together. Then, placing the bathing suit top on the wearer. And lastly, adjusting the strings of the bathing suit.

In a preferred embodiment, the body 10 and the appendages 11 of the accessory are made of a hard flexible plastic or rubber material and of a soft rubber material, the materials are fixedly attached, the soft rubber material would rest on the body of the wearer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the body 10 might define at least one fanciful aperture 14 within the body 10.

An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a fashionable bathing suit top accessory that reduces the tension placed on the neck of a wearer by the strings of the bathing suit top.

A further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a universal accessory that can be used with a variety of bathing suit tops, the accessory is removable.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides an accessory that can be used with bathing suit tops to temporarily allow users to obtain stylized tan lines.

While we have shown and described embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 

1. An accessory for a bathing suit top that minimizes the tension felt on the neck of a wearer by changing the angle in which the strings of the bathing suit drape around the neck of the wearer, the accessory comprises: a four-cornered body, the body has an upper, lower, left, right, bottom and top side, the upper and lower sides of the body are substantially parallel and are from about two inches to about five and a half inches apart, the left and right sides of the body are from about one inch to about two and a half inches apart; and four appendages, each appendage has a first and a second end, the first end of each appendage attaches to each corner of the body, the appendages flow outward from the body at an angle that ranges from about thirty-five degree to about fifty-five degree from either the upper or the lower side of the body, each appendage defines an eyelet adjacent to the second end of each appendage.
 2. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the body and the appendages are made of a waterproof and flexible material.
 3. The accessory of claim 2, wherein the material is rubber or a polymer having similar properties as rubber.
 4. The accessory of claim 3, wherein body defines at least one fanciful aperture within the body.
 5. The accessory of claim 2, wherein the body and the appendages are made of a hard flexible plastic or rubber material and of a soft rubber material, the materials are fixedly attached, the soft rubber material would rest on the body of the wearer.
 6. The accessory of claim 5, wherein the body defines at least one fanciful aperture within the body.
 7. A method of using the accessory of claim 3, comprising the steps of: providing a wearer; providing the accessory; providing a bathing suit top, the top having strings; then, threading each string of the bathing suit top through a corresponding eyelet of the accessory; next, tying the strings that were threaded through the eyelets so that the strings threaded through the appendages attached to the upper side are tied together and the strings threaded through to the appendages attached to the lower side are tied together; then, placing the bathing suit top on the wearer; and lastly, adjusting the strings of the bathing suit.
 8. A method of using the accessory of claim 5, comprising the steps of: providing a wearer; providing the accessory; providing a bathing suit top, the top having strings; then, threading each string of the bathing suit top through a corresponding eyelet of the accessory; next, tying the strings that were threaded through the eyelets so that the strings threaded through the appendages attached to the upper side are tied together and the strings threaded through to the appendages attached to the lower side are tied together; then, placing the bathing suit top on the wearer; and lastly, adjusting the strings of the bathing suit. 